1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, system, and article of manufacture for backing-up and restoring files including files referenced with multiple file names.
2. Description of the Related Art
Certain backup programs are designed to backup operating system state files, comprising those files required by the operating system to operate, such as dynamic link library (DLL) files, etc. The purpose of such backup programs is to backup those files needed to restore the operating system state to the state at the time of backup. The Tivoli® Storage Manager (TSM) backup archive client may backup all system state components in a single object to provide a consistent point-in-time snapshot of the system state. (Tivoli is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and other countries) On a Microsoft® Windows Server® system, the system state components to backup include active directory, system volume, COM+ database files, registry files, system and boot files. (Microsoft and Windows Server are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries) The TSM backup archive client may transfer the object including the system state files to a TSM backup server that manages backup objects for multiple clients.
In certain embodiments, multiple names may be used to reference a file. For instance, in certain Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, a file may have multiple names that reference the file, referred to as hard links and soft or symbolic links. Further, Windows Vista™ System Backup has the capability to backup an image and restore files having multiple names by restoring only one copy of the file from the image. (Windows Vista is a trademark of the Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries).
There is a need in the art for improved techniques for backing up files, including files which may be referenced by multiple file names.